I Can't Lie
by stars28
Summary: When Fili and Kili visit Bilbo's hobbit hole two years after the Battle of Five Armies, Fili is attracted to the dark-haired hobbit that lives with Bilbo.


_**I Can't Lie.**_

_(Title credit: Sorry - Our Lady Peace.)_

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><p>"Fili? Kili?" Bilbo said, confused. Why were the two Durin brothers standing on his doorstep two years after the Quest? Not that he was against seeing them again of course.<p>

"Bilbo!" Fili said, pulling the hobbit into a hug. He felt his brother join, his arms tightening involuntarily.

"Bilbo? Who's there?" A voice asked.

Fili untangled himself from the hug and looked towards where the voice had come from. It was another hobbit, if the size of his feet was anything to go by. He was standing there, a half eaten apple in his left hand, a befuddled expression on he face.

"Fili, at your service." He said, bowing low.

The hobbit raised an eyebrow and said, "Thanks...I guess?"

Bilbo laughed, "Frodo, these are Fili and Kili, the two Durin brothers from the Quest. Do you remember me telling you about them?"

"Oh yes! I remember now!" The dark-haired hobbit - Frodo - said.

"Come in. Come in! Don't stand on the doorstep!" Bilbo said, ushering them into the cosy hobbit hole.

Fili began to take his weapons off, aware that Frodo was watching him intently. After a few minutes of producing many razor-sharp knives from his clothes and hair, he was finished, unlike Kili, who was still removing his bow and arrows. He went into the kitchen and found that Frodo had followed him.

"Hello." He said, smiling at the smaller hobbit.

"I'm Frodo," The hobbit said, holding his hand out, "As my Uncle mentioned earlier."

Fili shook the offered hand, grinning widely, and said, "I don't suppose you've got any food?"

Frodo laughed, his blue eyes sparkling like a stream on a summer's day.

"Bilbo told me that dwarves - you are a dwarf aren't you?" He checked, and then continued after Fili had nodded the affirmative, "That dwarves are always hungry when they come here. It happened before the Quest for Erebor."

Fili already knew that; he was one of the hungry dwarves that ransacked Bilbo's pantry before the Quest. But he didn't mind this smiling hobbit, who was now searching in the pantry for some food, telling him again. In fact, he quite enjoyed it. He wasn't going to say that out-loud though.

By the time Kili and Bilbo had joined them in the kitchen, Fili and Frodo had made a start on the big pile of food that Frodo had found in the pantry. Fili raised his mug of ale as Bilbo sat down, smiling widely.

"You've got into my ale supply again then I see?" Bilbo said, taking a plate and beginning to put food on it.

"Yes we did," Fili replied, glancing at Frodo who smiled at him, "It wasn't my fault this time Bilbo!"

Kili laughed, clearly remembering when they had taken the barrel of ale into the small dining room all those years ago.

The older hobbit muttered something about the wastefulness of the young, and then raised his voice so everyone could hear him, "What brings you to Bag End?"

Fili looked at his brother, who shook his head and stuffed a piece of ham in his mouth. He knew why Kili had done it - so he didn't have to say anything. Fili sighed and began to talk.

"Well, my Uncle decided that we were old enough to go on a trade with one of the towns nearby," Fili explained, not taking his eyes off the plate in front of him, "And we thought we'd stop by, see how you were doing."

"That's nice of you," Bilbo said, looking slightly sad at the mention of the King of Erebor, "I suppose you want to know what I've been up to since the Battle of Five Armies?"

"Yes." Fili replied.

Bilbo started talking about the Shire and Bag End, but Fili wasn't paying much attention. He was trying to work out the younger hobbit who, apparently, lived here. He'd made that assumption based on the fact that Frodo knew where everything was in Bilbo's hobbit hole. The hobbit seemed an easy-going, much more likely to go on an adventure than his Uncle.

And he was good-looking, Fili thought, eyeing the dark curls, bright blue eyes and short, sturdy form. Frodo was also curious, which was something he recognised in himself, and it made him smile fondly. (Why was he smiling _fondly?_ Was he attracted to this hobbit?) He felt sure that this hobbit was going to go on an adventure similar to his own.

"Fili, Fili, Fili, Fili!"

He blinked, and looked at his brother. Fili then blushed deep red, insanely aware that he'd been staring at Frodo. He hadn't meant to, it had just happened.

"Yes Kili?" He said, firmly not letting himself glance at Frodo again. It would just end with him staring at the hobbit blatantly again, and Fili didn't want that to happen again.

"You're not paying attention, are you?"

"Uh..." Fili said eloquently. Why couldn't he lie? Because he was slightly distracted by the attractive hobbit opposite him, he remembered.

Kili smiled a little, "I'll take that as a 'no' then."

He got up and said to Bilbo, Frodo and Kili, "I'm going to the living room, I've finished."

When Fili got to the living room, he flopped down into a chair. He was tired, having been riding all day, having had a good meal and developing confusing feelings for a hobbit that he'd only met today. He'd just shut his eyes for a moment, no one was here to notice.

"Tired are you?" A voice said from near Fili.

His eyes flew open, locking on Frodo sitting on the opposite chair. He hadn't been aware that the hobbit had left the table too.

Frodo laughed, which sounded lovely to Fili, and said, cocking his head to one side, "I thought so. You know, with the way you were falling asleep in the chair. Kind of gave it away."

Fili chuckled, "I guess it would. Why aren't you talking with my brother and Bilbo?"

"Because," Frodo started, "I've lived in the Shire since I was born, so I know all the gossip that has happened since Bilbo came back from that mad Quest. And I thought you'd have some interesting stories about the Quest, having been on it and all."

"That is true," Fili said, looking around the room before focusing on the hobbit again, "Did you Uncle ever tell you about the time when Kili and I got the ponies stolen by trolls?"

"Well, yeah, but I'll listen to it again." Frodo shrugged, "It's better than listening to how Lobelia and Otho Sackville-Baggins stole all Uncle's silverware more than once."

"That's very true. Now, our Uncle had given us orders to look after the ponies for the night, but we got distracted - or rather, Kili got distracted, I didn't get distracted - and..."

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><p>Fili woke up slowly, his eyes opening gradually to allow them to adjust to the light streaming in from the window. He was in Bag End's living room, where he'd fallen asleep last night after telling Frodo stories about the Quest for Erebor. No one had woken him up, which he was grateful for.<p>

Glancing at the chair opposite him, Fili found that Frodo was already gone. He got up and went to the kitchen, where Fili thought it was most likely that the younger hobbit was, given what he knew about hobbits and their eating habits.

Sure enough, Frodo was sitting at the table, tucking into a plate of bacon and eggs, a plate next to his elbow piled with bread and butter. Fili sat opposite him, causing the hobbit to look up at him.

"Good morning." Frodo said.

Fili smiled, "Morning Frodo. I figured that you'd be in here, given hobbits appetites."

Frodo laughed, pointing at the stove which had a frying pan on, bacon sizzling, "That's true. Do you want some?"

He sniffed the air, smelling bacon cooking and said, "Yes, I think I will."

Going over to the stove, Fili piled a plate with bacon and eggs. Then he put some bread and butter on the side of his plate, and sat next to the hobbit, grasping the kife and fork easily and starting to eat.

"This is nice," Fili mumbled through the mouthful of bacon, "Make it yourself?"

"Do you see Bilbo or Kili in here?" Frodo said, gesturing around the empty room.

As they ate breakfast, Fili thought about how the early morning light shining over Frodo's face made the hobbit's eyes shine and he felt like he could drown in them, they were so blue. He shifted his gaze to the entrance as Bilbo enters.

"Morning you two," Bilbo said, smiling and walking over to the stove, "How are you?"

"Good," He replied, "Where's my brother?"

"Still asleep," The elder hobbit said, putting more bacon and eggs in the frying pan and letting them sizzle, "What are you doing today?"

"Erm... I might ask Frodo to show me the Shire."

"I'll do that!" Frodo said excitedly.

Fili laughed, "I thought you'd say that, which is why I indirectly asked."

"Makes sense." Frodo said, nodding as he finished his breakfast just as Fili's brother made an appearance in the kitchen.

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><p>Fili willingly followed Frodo out of the door as Kili and Bilbo sat down at the kitchen table and started talking about Erebor and how Thorin was doing, leaving his breakfast plate in the sink. He intended to wash it up later on, but for now Fili settled for running away with Frodo for a while. He knew it wasn't prince-like, but his Uncle wasn't here, so he could do what he liked for once.<p>

"Hey Fili?" Frodo said from where he was walking next to the dwarf.

"Yes?"

"Why did you go on the Quest?"

Fili thought for a moment, twisting a hand into his blonde hair, before answering, "I think because my Uncle wanted to reclaim Erebor, which is our heritage, and, I think because I wanted to prove myself, having been in the Ered Luin and hearing the stories about Thorin defeating Azog in the Battle of Moria and how he triumphed."

Frodo nodded and Fili absently noticed the way his brown hair blew in the wind. He wanted to brush it out of Frodo's face, out of his blue, blue eyes, but he couldn't, they barely knew each other. But maybe he could change that, Fili thought, his eyes glancing over the younger hobbit.

"What was it like growing up here?" He asked, keeping stride with Frodo.

"It was quiet, idyllic even, just me and Sam wandering about the Shire, and staying in at nights, listening to Uncle Bilbo's stories by the fire." Frodo chuckled suddenly, "Apart from when Merry and Pippin got hold of us. Then peacefulness went to hell in a handbasket. They'd drag us on their adventures across by and often _in_, Bywater Pool. They were a nightmare - still are actually - but they made life more interesting I guess."

"I guess they did," Fili replied, laughing a little as well, "That reminds me of the time when Kili and I played a prank on our Uncle Thorin - we'd taken his small knife and hidden it somewhere - when we were younger. He was furious with us, but we'd hidden in Bofur's house so he knew he couldn't make a big deal about it without making a fool out of himself. Kili and I laughed so much."

"That sounds like a good prank," Frodo said, "Which reminds me of the time when Merry and Pippin pulled Sam and I to a farm near here, claiming that the farmer was fine with us helping ourselves to the vegetables that were growing. In retrospect, we should have never trust those two rascals, but we did, and as a result, we all got chased out of the fields by a very angry farmer."

Fili laughed, "You got chased?"

Frodo nodded seriously, "With a pitchfork."

"Huh."

"What?"

Fili shrugged, "Just never thought of you as the adventurous type. Curious yes, but adventurous? No."

"Well," The hobbit said, slowing the pace a little so they could talk more, "That's one thing you don't know about me. I'll have to prove you wrong."

Fili was looking forward to this, he was interested in the hobbit, and this gave him an excellent opportunity.

"Oh yes? Please, by all means, blow my mind."

And, as Frodo began to talk, explaining ways in which he was adventurous, citing previous things he'd done with his friends, Fili _wasn't_ thinking about other ways that this little, curious hobbit could blow his mind.

He _wasn't._

(Or maybe he was - a tiny bit. But that couldn't be helped, not when Frodo was such an adorable and curious hobbit.)

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><p>For the rest of the day, whilst chatting about their respective childhoods, Frodo and Fili walked around the Shire. Fili marveled at the green landscape around him, letting Frodo show him the places where he'd grown up.<p>

"And then," Frodo was saying as he laughed, "Sam and I got in trouble! When it was actually Pippin and Merry!"

"Did you take the blame? Or did you tell on them?" Was what Fili wanted to know.

"Oh we took the blame, but then we annoyed them." Frodo said.

He laughed, after spending the day with Frodo, Fili had learnt that this was classic Frodo and Sam behaviour. They were the ones who wound Merry and Pippin up after practical jokes, often ending with them being in trouble along with Merry and Pippin.

"Sounds like you Frodo." He said, smiling as they turned up the road and began to walk up to Bag End.

"I wonder what Bilbo and your brother have been up to." Frodo mused after a few minutes of walking.

Fili shuddered; not wanting to think about what Bilbo and Kili had been up to in an empty hobbit hole, "Honestly, I don't want to know."

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><p>That night, after they'd had tea and lots of it - the hobbit hole housed at least one big pantry that Fili knew about - Fili went to the living room, feeling a sense of de-ja-vu when Frodo joined him, smiling brightly.<p>

Fili attempted to focus on the burning fire in front of his armchair, and not the curious hobbit next to him. The chairs had been shifted so they were facing the fire, rather than each other, which Fili was glad of, because he couldn't look Frodo in the eyes.

"Fili?"

He looked sideways from the fire - reminding him uncomfortably of the dragon Smaug - to find Frodo had moved closer to him, their thighs touching. He could smell Frodo's natural scent, and it was making his head spin from the proximity of Frodo, the room swaying before his eyes.

"Yeah?" Fili said, trying to get his head to stop spinning. After a few minutes, he successfully got it under control.

"Over the course of the day," Frodo began, tapping his fingers against his knee, "I've noticed something..."

"And what's that?" Fili said, trying to cover up the nerves he felt when Frodo said that sentence. He'd noticed the way Fili kept looking at the hobbit.

"Oh just that you kept glancing at me - any particular reason for it?"

Fili gulped, his hands automatically coming up to twist in his braids, and said, nervously, "Well... It appears that I'm kind of...attracted to you I guess?"

Frodo blinked his bright blue eyes slowly, "Me?"

"Yeah," Fili replied, flicking his eyes around the cosy living room before settling on the fire again as he spoke, "And I can go back to Erebor without an answer to the question that I'm about to give you, not bothering you again, and never coming back to the Shire."

"The question is...what exactly?" Frodo said.

"Can...can I k-kiss you?" Fili asked, eyes shifting from the fire to Frodo's face, which was lit up by the flames.

Fili watched apprehensively as Frodo's face went through different emotions before finally settling on what he thought was acceptance.

"Yes, you can." The hobbit said softly.

As he held Frodo's face in his hands, Fili was aware of the blood pulsing in his ears and the softness of Frodo's skin under his palms. Fili felt honoured to be allowed to kiss this adorable hobbit, and slowly, carefully pressed his lips to Frodo's slightly damp ones. It was heaven in Middle Earth. They were soft and the kiss didn't last half as long as Fili wanted it to, but he didn't want to annoy Frodo.

Fili's insides were doing flips, as he said, "Thank you Frodo."

Frodo smiled, which lifted Fili's hopes, "It's fine...it was quite nice actually."

Fili's heart swelled with feeling for this kind hobbit next to him, "Do you want to, maybe, do it again?"

"Why not?"

He was smiling as he tentatively pulled Frodo on to his lap, so he could kiss Frodo better this time. Before it had been gradually and gently, but the second time, while still gentle, there was a passion beneath the surface of this second kiss.

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><p>Fili trotted away from Bag End on his pony the next morning, whistling cheerfully, with Kili at his side.<p>

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Kili asked, curious about the source of his elder brother's mood.

"Nothing." Fili said, before glancing back to the little green door and smiling when he saw Frodo's distinctive hair framed by the door.

"You're lying." Kili stated.

He hummed, turning to focus on where his pony was going, "Maybe I am. But then again, maybe I'm not."

As they trotted further away from Bag End - that place where Fili had an attraction to a feisty hobbit and where he'd shared a kiss or two with that same hobbit - Fili could sense that he would be back.

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><p><strong>AN: This is a fic that's been buzzing around my brain for a while. R&R.**


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